After the confession failed, I went to the NBA to play and lose weight

Chapter 217

Next, the Magic experienced another back-to-back away game, and also achieved a record of one win and one loss.

Mavericks, Nets finalize trade for Devin Harris, DeSagana Diop, Trenton Hassell, Maurice Iger, Keith Van Horn ahead of All-Star break , two future draft picks and a portion of cash, in exchange for Jason Kidd, Malik Allen and Antawn Wright from the Nets.

However, because during the All-Star period, the transaction clarification period has not yet passed, and the roster confirmation has ended, Kidd still represents the Eastern Stars.

However, after the All-Star break, Kidd naturally went to the Mavericks, and the Nets troika directly removed the front of the car. Even at home, they couldn't cause any obstacles to the Magic.

However, Carter and Jefferson worked very hard in this game. Both of them made 6 fouls, and the two teams also fought fiercely until the last 2 minutes of the fourth quarter.

Li Chengming's personal offensive state is good, scoring 20 points in 14 of 35, but the effect is still mediocre in organizing offense, with 6 assists and 4 turnovers.

Lewis was more efficient this time around, shooting 4 of 3 from beyond the three-point line and winning 12 free throws; Howard's free throws were slow this time, 15 of 7, so he was targeted by the opponent's hacking tactics, which was also the third quarter. The reason for once catching up with the score.

However, in the second back-to-back game, the Philadelphia Magic lost again. This is also the second consecutive loss to the same team in a week.

The opponents showed their power on the outside line. The first outside line trio scored 74 points, and the backcourt duo even scored 60 points with a shooting rate of more than 26%.

Of course, judging from the statistics today, it became another day for Li Chengming to be alone.

He scored 30+ points in a row back to back. As a result, Lewis felt bad, 7 of 1 from the outside, and Howard was troubled by free throws for two consecutive games. In the last 2 minutes, he dared not send the ball to him.

Although he still grabbed 16 rebounds and sent 3 blocked shots, his offensive efficiency was too poor and he was hindered.

Of course, defense is actually the main reason for the Magic to play like this. In the first half, the scores of the two teams were even, but before the end of the first half, they were hit by the opponent because of free throws and turnovers. After that, the anger was directly vented .

Then they lost to the Knicks, basically the same story as the previous game.

Crawford scored 8 points on 6 of 33 outside shots. Li Chengming was wrapped into rice dumplings this time, but he couldn't return the pass and couldn't make a shot.

Howard's free throws have also stabilized at around 50% recently, allowing the opponent to use the slashing tactics with confidence. Once the Magic have a rising rhythm, a direct foul makes Howard make two free throws and one, which can interrupt their rhythm.

It is said that the Knicks are not bad, they are really bad. In fact, they don’t need to be bad at all. After all, they haven’t had a reliable draft in these years. Maybe all the good seedlings will be spent directly.

In Tuesday's game, the Magic managed to avenge the Raptors, but at least they did not stage a three-game losing streak.

Although Bosh is missing this time, the other main players are still there. However, the three main players of the Magic team have recovered their status. All three of them scored 20+. He scored 16 points, 9 rebounds and 24 assists in 7 of 9 games. It seemed that he had finally found a bit of a playmaker on the scene.

In the eight games after the All-Star break, the Magic had 4 wins and 4 losses, basically winning one game and losing one game. This kind of ups and downs is obviously not what a team that ranks first in the league should have.

However, the Green Army did not seize this opportunity. Although the All-Star buffer allowed Garnett to heal his injury and return directly, he did not expect the All-Star to return. The Green Army directly lost three games in a row. Almost thought they were doomed for the season.

Fortunately, the game was adjusted later, and there was another wave of five consecutive victories, which was as exciting as riding a roller coaster.

Teams such as the Pistons also had ups and downs, which led to the Magic's unsatisfactory record this time, but in a blink of an eye it is still stable at the number one position in the Eastern Conference.

As a result, there are many bad-mouthing voices from the outside world. The fans also thought that the team was going to be finished, but looking at the record and rankings, they felt—is this the end of the Eastern Conference?

Of course, there are still many people who can see the recent adjustments of the Magic, especially the changes in Li Chengming's style of play.

In the latest NBA Insider with Barkley and others, after talking about the last two official best rookie rankings, Li Chengming's recent game performance was mentioned after the leader of the list was undoubtedly given to Li Chengming.

If there is still a bit of suspense about the best rookie in the two or three weeks before the All-Star Game, then with Li Chengming's continuous explosion before the All-Star Game, and the All-Star Weekend, Li Chengming won the MVP of the Rookie Game and was selected as a regular player. The performance of the game, the outside world gradually unified perception.

Even if there are still people who are not reconciled, at this time, it is really impossible to pick out which aspect of Durant is stronger than Li Chengming.

Although the recent record of the Magic has been ups and downs, let alone the record has little effect on the best rookie. On the contrary, because of Turkoglu's absence, Li Chengming has more possessions and opportunities. There are bad points, such as more turnovers and defensive weaknesses being targeted, but there are also more bright spots.

Just the data alone is about to completely surround Durant.

Of course, now that Li Chengming has been regarded as the best rookie, everyone will naturally start to look at him with another set of standards.

Barkley said: "If I follow my thinking, I don't think Lee's current performance is worthy of my previous expectations. Hedo's absence, I think it is indeed a good opportunity for him, but now he often gets lost. Case.

"Of course, I don't think it's his problem alone. What is Stan doing? Does he really think that a 19-year-old boy can easily replace a 30-year-old veteran functionally? In terms of game experience, Lee Still a long way to go."

Kenny Smith said with a smile: "I can understand Coach Van Gundy. If I were to coach, and I had such a good seed under my staff, and just had such an opportunity, we could definitely wait for him to come back while training.

"Although everyone thinks that the Magic has the strength to hit the championship this season, in my opinion, they are still too young. Their performance in the regular season can't explain anything. The playoffs are the biggest test for them.

"Especially like Li, a rookie in the first grade, I have doubts about whether he can perform as he is now in the playoffs. So in my opinion, all they need to do this season is to accumulate enough experience in the playoffs , When they are more mature next season, they can continue to hit the record, and they can really hit the championship."

There are not a few people who think like him, even many people in the Magic team think so.

After all, the Pistons were also No. [-] in the regular season last season. Didn't they get overthrown by the Cavaliers in the end?

Well, this example is not clear enough. After all, compared with the two, the Cavaliers with a younger core are obviously the younger team with less experience.

In any case, for Li Chengming and the Magic, no matter whether the outside world is optimistic or not, it means that they have reached a certain position, and everyone is not just talking like before, but really began to seriously consider them It's time to attack the highest stage.

Even judging from their current record of 47 wins and 15 losses, in the remaining 20 games, as long as they can win 13 of them, they can achieve a record of 60+, which is already quite an amazing record .

You must know that in the not long team history of the Magic, the last time they got a record of 60+, it has to be traced back to when Shaquille O'Neal was still on the team.

Obviously, this time there is another "No. [-] center" and a capable Magic team, and there are faint signs of sprint team history.

That Magic team made it to the finals at the highest level, but they returned home without a feather, and quickly fell apart. The Sharks' Journey to the West and Hardaway's injuries made it a pity that the combination could not reach the upper limit expected by the outside world.

So this time, can the Magic seize their best chance in the championship bonus period?

(End of this chapter)